KJS Print to Mail Services used two cranes to install the 9m-long press weighing 18 tonnes into the factory. Installation started last week and is due to take around three weeks to complete.

The investment included upgrading software and pre-press kit to support the new Sakurai OL 466, which cost £500,000.

The 20-staff, £3m-turnover company also aims to replace finishing kit and is looking at a Horizon folder, a stitcher and possibly a guillotine.

Co-owner Kevin Brown, who plans to recruit up to three more staff in the next year to take extra workload from the machine, said: “The new press will take the company to further heights.

“We will be able to handle longer print runs with the added bonus of being able to process the jobs straight off the press without the need to wait for lengthy drying times.

“The Sakurai will replace a Ryobi B3 machine. We looked at another Ryobi but the Sakurai was a better fit for our small company. Ryobi builds and ships the press whereas Sakurai makes it to fit our needs.

“We wanted LED UV because direct mail is moving extremely fast and drying is important. On conventional presses you have to wait for work to dry before putting it through laser printers.

“This can add days. With the new kit, it is instant drying, which helps turnaround times. There is no spray, no downtime, less power and the coater means we can spot seal. This is the future.

“A few companies in the UK have this kind of kit and we've jumped on the bandwagon early; this time next year more companies will have LED UV capability.”

Brown said his company had been adding £300,000 turnover year on year for the past three years. The new Sakurai could add £1m in around 18 months.

“Having a press specially configured allows us to reduce production times from the press to the laser printers, on to our automated fulfilment machines and out into the post.

“We can therefore offer the client not only a superior quality of print and turnaround speed, but also huge cost savings.”

KJS' clients range from the financial sector through to small enterprises. Many are charities. It also runs two Xerox Nuvera 144s and a Xerox 1000 colour digital press. KJS began operating out of two units on a small industrial estate in 1998.

Gradual expansion saw it take on neighbouring units. Print and direct mail runs range from one to one million, with an average print run of 20,000.